super-rare materials, obsolete manufacturing processes, loss of institutional memory, lack of a corporate cooperation between a huge tube maker (Telefunken) and the, at the time, largest condenser microphone manufacturer in the world (Neumann).

Was the VF-14 (M or non M) ever used in a piece of equipment that we could be looking for in yard sales or electronic swap meets here in the USA? I guess I am asking for non microphone factory installed applications. I have picked up more than one non functioning old organs for the near NOS vintage tubes!

They say the heart of Rock & Roll is still beating, which is amazing if you consider all the blow it's done over the years.

"The Internet enables pompous blowhards to interact with other pompous blowhards in a big circle jerk of pomposity." - Bill Maher

"The negative aspects of this business, not only will continue to prevail, but will continue to accelerate in madness. Conditions aren't going to get better, because the economics of rock and roll are getting closer and closer to the economics of Big Business America." - Bill Graham

Wow, is that so? I was under the impression that the first tube ever custom designed for a mic was Hiller's MSC-1 (sub miniature) from around 1946. Especially if you compare the dimensions, it surprises me that Neumann would have gone with a steel tube of that size for a custom design... of course, "normal" miniature tubes weren't introduced commercially until a few years after the U47's developement, but the technology for even smaller tubes obviously was around already...

Steel body octagonals were of course already in use at the time the U47 came into being, but the particular octagonal Neumann settled on was exclusively manufactured and delivered to the microphone company.

Another myth is that the VF14 tube was a war or pre- war tube. Not so. The first VF14 was manufactured two years after World War II ended.

Another myth is that the VF14 tube was a war or pre- war tube. Not so. The first VF14 was manufactured two years after World War II ended.

All due respect - I am curious to the source of this information - I don't know if some of the people I have been speaking to over here are regurgitating "the myth" or have alternative / factual information.

If you're not comfortable posting that source - PM or email would be fine. I have no agenda or dispute with your statement, but like many other, am in search of the truth.

Peace.

Logged

CN Fletcher

mwagener wrote on Sat, 11 September 2004 14:33We are selling emotions, there are no emotions in a grid

"Recording engineers are an arrogant bunch. If you've spent most of your life with a few thousand dollars worth of musicians in the studio, making a decision every second and a half... and you and they are going to have to live with it for the rest of your lives, you'll get pretty arrogant too. It takes a certain amount of balls to do that... something around three" Malcolm Chisholm

Primary information: date codes. I have never come across VF14 date codes that preceded 1947.

Secondary information: two former Telefunken (the original company) tube factory employees, one now dead, the other old.

I am also not aware of any other tube that Telefunken has ever issued that was exclusively made for and sold to one manufacturer only.

To my knowledge, neither Neumann nor anyone else had made microphones or other products prior to 1947/1948 (introduction of the U47) which used that tube, and no one used it after the U47's phase-out period, starting around 1959 (when Gotham's strong hand was felt in Berlin.)

I am of course open to modifying the information I publicised, if it can be corroborated.

The main source for production numbers is the Telefunken production code book, the last sales director of the tube plant in Ulm has it, he save it when the factory was closed. His VF14 numbers match the documentation I have from the tube plant in Berlin, in the time frame 1946 to 1958 27500 VF14 were made in three production runs. The VF14 was one of the last steel-tubes ever made. Also 38000 glass VF14 were made by the former Telefunken tube plant in Erfurt, those ones were made 1948 and labeled with the diamond shape but Telefunken was replaced with Funkwerk.Only a hand full of them are still around, the majority was discarded and ended up in a landfill/wetland in Erfurt due to production/quality issues.